Project Box Hauler: Part II

Project Box Hauler is just that…a box hauler. The truck spent most of its life as a Castrol Racing show car hauler, racking up well over 200,000 miles.

Project Box Hauler
Part II: Bellows Style Up-Pipe Upgrade

Last month, we introduced our latest project truck, a well-worn, 200,000-plus–mile Ford F-350 fitted with the 7.3L Power Stroke and a six-speed manual transmission. The owner found this dually while scanning the classifieds where it was listed for sale with a 28-foot gooseneck trailer. The combo used to be a Castrol Racing/John Force car hauler that racked up 215,000 miles in regular cross-country jaunts.

Last month, we took his newfound purchase over to the folks at Strictly Diesel in Scottsdale, Ariz., for some routine maintenance, which included fluid and filters changes. They also went over the Super Duty with a fine-toothed comb and found several problems with the truck, which are not uncommon for high-miler diesels. Over the next few issues, we’ll be upgrading this high-mile Ford with a whole host of aftermarket goodies while showing you some tricks specifically for the 7.3L. We’ll also bolt on a few extra goodies to get Project Box Hauler in tiptop shape to be a reliable daily drive and serious towing workhorse.

This month, we’ll address a problem that’s common to every 7.3L Power Stroke ever made: Leaking turbo up pipes. Anyone who’s ever owned a 7.3L knows what we’re talking about—that annoying exhaust leak noise that develops over time, which you can never find no matter how many times your tighten all the exhaust clamps. The issue is the up pipes behind the engine that run from the exhaust manifolds to the back of the turbo.

By design, the factory pipe system uses a slip-joint setup and the old-school donut-style gasket that’s suppose to allow for movement from heat expansion and contraction. Over time, the slip joint tolerances increase and cause exhaust leaks, which can be spotted with soot accumulation around the joint. In some case, the “donut” can actually wear a hole in the pipe from movement, causing an exhaust leak. On our guinea pig, the setup was so bad it had worn a hole on both up pipes. This leakage reduces the amount of exhaust that flows to the turbo, which can drop boost levels significantly.

The fix is actually something International, (the father of the Power Stroke), developed for its agricultural and industrial applications. The company developed a bellow-style up pipe kit that replaces the factory slip-joint setup and provides a solid seal from exhaust leaks while still allowing for the expansion and contraction of the exhaust pipe.

Strictly Diesel in Scottsdale, Ariz., uses this kit exclusively on the 7.3L with excellent results. The kit comes complete with new bellows style up-pipes and a new cast iron Y-setup that merges the pipes into the turbo housing, along with all new bolts and gaskets. The install is a bolt-on deal, but there’s a trick to getting everything to fit right the first time that only seasoned installers know.

Since our dually was destined for an upgraded exhaust system, repairing the leaking stock up pipes was the first order of business since you have to pull off the turbo downpipe anyway on the passenger’s side to get to the up pipe. If you’re opting to do a turbo back on the truck, replacing the up pipes is a great place to start.

The Strictly Diesel Bellows Up Pipe Kit comes complete with all the necessary mounting hardware and gaskets, along with a new “collector” that bolts to the back of the turbo.

The “bellowing” of the pipe allows for expansion and contraction without breaking the exhaust seal for maximum boost pressure.

This is what the old setup looks like. The slip-joint design, that crushes the “donut” on the pipe to make the seal, is prone to leaking on nearly all 7.3L Power Strokes.

And in some cases, the pipe movement is bad enough to create holes.

The best time to replace the up pipes is when you’re doing a full turbo back exhaust system upgrade since you have to remove the downpipe to get at the exhaust manifold on the passenger side. Plenty of lube will improve your chances on not breaking rusty bolts.

Since the stock up pipes are slip jointed at the turbo “collector” this is the easiest part of the operation.

The kit comes with a new “collector” that attaches to the back of the turbo. Strictly Diesel attaches one of the up pipes to the collector before it is moved into place.

The factory turbo clamp is reused to attach the new collector.

The kit also comes with new mounting bolts and gaskets, which are utilized at the exhaust manifold ends.

The final step after attaching the up pipes to the intake manifolds is to tighten the connections at the “collector”.

This entry was posted
on Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 8:23 pm and is filed under Ford Power Stroke, Tech.
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